7 Reasons to Follow @BenicioDToro on Twitter

Hello! It’s Groundhog Day today and, to commemorate that event, we’re going to be doing the same thing that we did on this day last year: Not writing about Groundhog Day. Instead, we’re going to be writing about Benicio Del Toro because, as you may or may not be aware, he’s recently joined Twitter. Here are seven reasons that you should follow him.

1. It Might Be Him. Given the level of interaction that he has with his followers it seems unlikely that @BenicioDToro is the real Benicio Del Toro; after all, most celebrity tweeters have little or no interaction with their followers, with some choosing to interact only with other celebs and some not even tweeting their own stuff at all, leaving it to PR minions. Still, given that it’s Benicio Del Toro that we’re discussing, you might expect him to behave a little differently than say, Paris Hilton or Newt Gingrich. You’d probably expect the unexpected from him. So perhaps it is him.

2. It Might Not Be Him. Fake celebrity tweeters are all over Twitter. Some of them are sad, deluded individuals who contribute nothing of interest to proceedings, and some are brilliant, witty, insightful and passionate about spoofing the people they purport to be, or – for fear of litigation – don’t purport to be. I will say this; if it isn’t Benicio del Toro then, whoever it is, they’re doing a damned fine job. Such a good job, in fact, that they probably deserve to be Benicio Del Toro, replacing the real version. After all, pretending to be someone else is, fundamentally, acting, and if Del Toro is being spoofed then the spoofter clearly deserves the promotion. We should still follow though, because if it turns out that it isn’t really him, British followers will be able to sigh, grumble and rant, and American followers will be able to concoct bizarre law-suits for emotional distress suffered or for mail fraud (whatever the hell that is). Essentially we all win.

3. Interaction. He retweets lots of nice things that people say about him (we’re hopeful that he will retweet this). Hmm, you might be thinking, that sounds a little self-serving, but since I’ve been following Benicio Del Toro, my timeline’s been full of people saying nice things, which is a genuine change from the norm. Usually my Twitter feed consists of “Piers Morgan’s a cock” and “the Daily Mail want to shovel us all into ovens” endlessly tweeted and retweeted. So perhaps positivity and kindness will make Twitter a better place. Or maybe they won’t. He also responds to people. Not just glib, cursory responses, but actual considered, thoughtful ones about acting, upcoming projects and the roles he chooses. He just seems really, genuinely nice.*

4. Be An Early Adopter. If you follow Benicio Del Toro now, you’ll be seen as an early adopter and that’s always cool. Well, unless you’re an HD-DVD-9 user (the HD-DVD-9 user?) or a clog-revivalist in which case it isn’t. And if you’re both of those things you’re really in trouble. Anyway, if you follow him now, you can impress people by saying “I was in the first couple of thousand people to follow Benicio Del Toro on Twitter” or, if you’re not talking to an audience of geeks, you could should keep that quiet.

5. He Follows People Back. This might not sound intrinsically interesting, but for a celebrity tweeter, it’s unusual. It’s also a brilliant spectator sport, because every time he returns to Twitter – and we’re probably not helping here – Benicio Del Toro has many, many new followers to follow back. As this snowballs (and it will), how will he cope? Will he have to give up acting, meals or sleep to spend his time following everyone back? Will he be reduced from a fine actor to a haggard, pallid man sitting in a darkened room dressed only in his underpants endlessly clicking the Follow button as he desperately struggles to catch up? This is more exciting than a soap opera.

It's The Beard!

6. The Beard. Benicio Del Toro’s beard is one of the most awesome, luxuriant, manly examples of facial fuzz there is and we should all see that in our timeline every now and again. For men, it would be inspirational, a paragon of masculine virtue that, if we look at it long enough, might just rub off on us. For women, it would be aspirational, a paragon of masculine virtue that, if they look at it long enough, might just rub on them. Let’s face it, a proper beard is something we all love and if you follow Benicio you’ll see it a lot in your timeline.

7. Quantity. The most surprising thing is not that Benicio Del Toro is tweeting, retweeting and responding to people (after all, that’s how most of us non-celebrities use Twitter), it’s that he’s responding in such quantity to people. He’s tweeting hundreds of times a day. Yes. Hundreds. It must be quite a Herculean task to tweet that often (@7Reasons manages to tweet four or five times a day and there are two of us). And it’s not just the sheer dedication to tweeting that’s amazing, it’s the potential consequences. After all, he’s retweeting things that people are saying about him, and then they’re retweeting his retweets of the things they said about him, and then their friends are replying to the retweet of the retweet – and probably retweeting it themselves – and then they’re following him and saying nice things about him which he’ll retweet and the whole process starts again (but bigger because there’s now a wider circle of people involved). Essentially, BDT (How I wish he had a shorter name) is going to break Twitter and probably the internet as well. And if you follow him, you’ll be the first to know when that happens.**

28 Comments

I totally agree! What a fab guy (whether or not it is him the beard is still nice to look at

Little Eva x

Al
February 3, 2011 at 01:24

My friends younger sister used to date Benicio Del Toro, he’s a nice guy for real. She wasn’t even that hot, good looking but bookish. In the end she dumped him to go study in England, there still friends though.

Dee V. Deeva
February 7, 2011 at 10:55

He doesn’t interact in a positive way with tweeters who question his authenticity and ask for reasonable verification. They are ignored and, if they persist, they are blocked.

I, too, have heard that the real Benicio is very nice. Nice guys don’t slam the door in the faces of fans who are trying to be certain he’s who he says he is.

Both photos were grabbed off the internet and the background image is Photoshopped.

Anonymous
February 7, 2011 at 12:26

Hey are you the one that claims she’s an actress and bothers Benicio while YOU ARE NOT verified urself. Yeah you have no proof that he is not the real guy. God so many haters out there. They have no fucking life!

Klea
February 7, 2011 at 12:27

And if i was benicio I would report you for harassment. Whoever the hell you are. BITCH.

Doris
February 7, 2011 at 12:32

And even if he’s not real (some stupid girl said that) he hasn’t done anything bad to nice people. He is kind! If you bother him all the time and say mean things and swear then his PR people are likely to block you. You know that its handle by his PR too, right? …

Anyway if you dont want to follow him unfollow and leave everyone in peace. Go back to your pathetic life…

Julia
February 7, 2011 at 12:36

He would never slam the door to a FAN. Sorry you are not a fan you are a HATER. That’s why he slammed you…

Cindy B.
February 7, 2011 at 12:49

Wow. I say WOW!!!

So, all u cussin & name callin r not the haters right?

U stupid.

Mike
February 7, 2011 at 13:05

You have the right to UNFOLLOW.

Klea
February 7, 2011 at 13:06

That’s right I’m not a hater of Benicio but I hate haters! Pathetic people who have nothing to do just bothering people…

Kouki
February 7, 2011 at 13:11

Hey dont discuss this with stupid people. We love Benicio and everyone who supports him even if he is not him. I personally think that its his PR who handle the page or his gf. I don’t mind in fact i like it. Hes making everyone happy. Those who want the ‘real’ and think that he is fake THEY CAN GO TO CUBA AND VISIT HIM (I STILL THINK THEY WILL BOTHER HIM ALL THE FUCKING TIME) OR THEY CAN SHUT THE HELL OFF AND GO BACK TO THEIR FUCKING LIFE. I mean WHAT THE FUCK?

Cindy B.
February 7, 2011 at 13:15

How you u even know what happen? How u know who whos followin?

Nice people hate no one. U should mind your biz & stop actin a fool.

Kouki
February 7, 2011 at 13:18

Yo Cindy/Dee or whatever ur fake name is you are acting like a fool. Loser. Stop bothering us. No wonder why benicio blocked you.

GEORGIA
February 7, 2011 at 13:20

Hey CINDY if you are nice then why you hate benicio or whoever uses beniciodtoro page?

…

Cindy B.
February 7, 2011 at 13:23

I not followin. I can’t believe what u all sayin. Way u act I think its u.

Klea
February 7, 2011 at 13:28

Oh get a grip. Benicio has 2.000 + followers and in real life more. We can beat you up! Nobody cares about haters.

If you don’t want to report you here and call the cops then shut the fuck off.

By the way Benicio would never swear to his fans or haters. So you know! And I swear to you because you deserve it.

Klea

GEORGIA
February 7, 2011 at 13:29

Cindy stop writing here you make us unhappy. Benicio does whatever he wants. It’s his account. Don’t ever come here again unless you have something nice to say.

End of discussion.

Kouki
February 7, 2011 at 13:32

OMG! I know who that bitch is… I will report her. She said that she knows BDT in person and went to art exhibition and that she’s an actress. Benicio told her not to bother her anymore…
*******(name removed by administrator)… She’s a faker. AND A HATER.

I will report her if Benicio don’t.

Cindy B.
February 7, 2011 at 13:32

U in high school?

Get help. U need it.

Bet u flunk.

Ilene
February 7, 2011 at 13:34

@******* (name removed by administrator)

She has no proof that she knows him.
And personally Benicio doesn’t know her.

His PR will report her.

Benifan
February 10, 2011 at 18:33

Looks like the plug has been pulled on the fake account by Twitter. It became pretty clear early on that it was not the real Benicio or anyone with a reasonable amount of sense.

Nobody
February 15, 2011 at 19:20

It wasn’t fake.

CHIKA
February 15, 2011 at 19:21

BDT: @BenicioDelToro

Robin
February 19, 2011 at 22:28

If this is the real BDT, I bet he is getting a good laugh out of all of this. His movies are my escape from a long stressful day in the medical profession and I thank him for that. On this, his birthday, I wish him nothing but happiness and joy. I have followed him long before there was a “Twitter”, and I will follow his career until he retires. Have a blast tonight, Benicio, you deserve it.

Whistler
February 22, 2011 at 13:50

What’s this stuff about his little known sister being his daughter tho?